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Kotomora

鞵

shoes, boots

Strokes19

Readings

On'yomi

  • アイ
  • カイ

Kun'yomi

  • わらじ
  • くつ

Meaning

鞵 centers on footwear made from leather: shoes and boots. The two given meanings are direct applications of this core idea.

Study

Etymology

鞵 combines 革 (leather) with 奚, which likely contributes the sound. The character is a phono-semantic compound for leather footwear.

Meaning mnemonic

The left side 革 means leather, and the right side 奚 looks like a person with a big head and legs, like someone trying on a new pair of leather shoes. Picture a cobbler fitting leather boots onto a customer.

Reading mnemonic

For アイ, imagine an eye (アイ) on the leather shoe, watching you as you put it on. The eye sound cues アイ while the shoe is made of leather.